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Rating: 
Summary: A good book, if you are interested in science.
Review: Book selectively covers modern physics, protein and neuro-biology, evolution, and theories of consciousness. The hypothesis is that consciousness is the 3rd system to develop for organism control, the others being chemical transmitters, and the nervous system. Hypothesis is buttressed by evolutionary arguments, and a discussion of quantum physics, showing that quantum physics is every bit as strange as consciousness, in many respects is not understood any better, and could plausibly be linked to consciousness. I was not entirely happy with the discussion of quantum physics, but that is a tough subject. I know the chapter on the structure of the brain could have been done much better. And certainly you should not read this book if you aren't interested in the science for itself: had he wanted to, Cairns-Smith could have written a much smaller book to get his thoughts on consciousness (which are interesting) properly presented. For those who just enjoy reading about science, let me put in a plug for Life Matrix, Biography of Water by Philip Ball.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, if you are interested in science.
Review: Book selectively covers modern physics, protein and neuro-biology, evolution, and theories of consciousness. The hypothesis is that consciousness is the 3rd system to develop for organism control, the others being chemical transmitters, and the nervous system. Hypothesis is buttressed by evolutionary arguments, and a discussion of quantum physics, showing that quantum physics is every bit as strange as consciousness, in many respects is not understood any better, and could plausibly be linked to consciousness. I was not entirely happy with the discussion of quantum physics, but that is a tough subject. I know the chapter on the structure of the brain could have been done much better. And certainly you should not read this book if you aren't interested in the science for itself: had he wanted to, Cairns-Smith could have written a much smaller book to get his thoughts on consciousness (which are interesting) properly presented. For those who just enjoy reading about science, let me put in a plug for Life Matrix, Biography of Water by Philip Ball.
Rating: 
Summary: The chemistry of consciousness.
Review: Cairns-Smith is a reader in Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and so understandably his approach to the topic of consciousness is a very chemical one. The book starts with a discussion of chemistry and physics, moves on to DNA and cellular mechanics, then primitive organisms, before discussing neural behaviour and consciousness itself. Everything is presented in a clear, fluent way with plenty of diagrams, so this book is easy to read and understand - but at the same time doesn't skimp on detail.The author presents us with the idea that an increasing complexity of behaviour, the pinnacle of which is human consciousness, is a result of an increase in the complexity of the underlying chemical machinery. But when it comes to our brain Cairns-Smith claims that there is more going on here than merely massive interaction between a huge number of specialised neural cells. He claims that neurons are so precisely specialised that they are capable of tapping into some of the most basic physical properties of matter - namely quantum effects - bringing the book back to its opening chapters' discussion of the physical nature of matter. While this is an elegant argument, ultimately I believe it does not convince - it seems overly fashionable and lacking evidence. The history of the philosophy of mind is littered with metaphors for consciousness based on the topical technology of the day. The brain has been seen as a hydraulic device, a telephone exchange, a digital computer and now Cairns-Smith proposes the metaphor of the very latest quantum physical phenomenon - a Bose-Einstein condensate. This weak conclusion does not detract from the rest of the interesting discussion in the book and anyone with an interest in cognitive science or the philosophy of mind would enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Cairns-Smith gets jiggy.
Review: I must say I was let down with this book. Cairns-Smith is very cool when it comes to prebiotic chemistry. His clay hypothesis is fascinating and he is generous enough to share it with we unwashed masses. But this book, besides its general science appeal (I did give it 3 stars after all) falls flat. He starts out making valid references to cellular mechanisms. His description of bacterial flagellar mechanics is ripping. However, after he struts his prowess in the opening exposition of biochemistry, he heads straight away into nonsenical, outdated, metaphysics. This is not that old of a book (1996). Toward the end, where he babbles on about Schrodinger's equation and the quantum correlates of consciousness, one gets the feeling Cairns-Smith is making a big production, being coy about materialistic cause and effect neurology, because he sincely wants very badly for there to be some spooky chi substance hidden away deep in the cell's machinery that causes brains to be conscious. Schrodinger certainly made a sensible bridge between quantum mechanics and cellular biology in his 1944 book "What is Life?" Cairns-Smith doesn't even come close. In the end he really adds nothing, just taking us on a joy ride around the park. In this sense, this book (it's no synoptic pamphlet) is a bit of a waste of one's time because it leads to a blind ally. Having said all this I still enjoyed reading it to a degree. Cairns-Smith covers a wide array of theory, he just doesn't do a particularly good job of weaving it into a fabric that keeps us warm on those chill intellectual nights. For general science purposes this is a pretty decent read. The serious cognition hound will find better grazing in other pastures however.
Rating: 
Summary: Turn on the Gas and the Flame Burns Again
Review: There was a joke about a student who summarized the knowledge of a course into a series of sentences such as "Read only your good books in vacation" (Colors of the light spectrum in order: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.) He then summarized these into words and continued this until one final word. It seems he got to final exams and forgot the word! Arrgh! Well, I just finished reading this book and it managed to summarize and integrate all physics, evolution, chemistry and brain physiology into 300 pages without leaving out any detail however arcane. I will now reduce this to even less, so you will have something more convenient to forget. The first 95% is background material starting with forces, fields, uncertainty, mass, etc. and leading up to electrons, atoms, water molecules, lipids, and arriving at life which, in the case of the E. coli, already has modest nerve-like capabilities so it can approach food and flee poisons. It goes on to show how nerve cells not much advanced from E. coli are constructed and act to assemble three dimensional images from eye signals, etc. This is to the painful detail of enumerating the parts of the brain and how they interact. Now we are all familiar with nonsense philosophy where someone who has been exposed to little knowledge nevertheless comes to some fantastic conclusion such as "maybe the entire Universe is an electron in some larger scale Universe". Such speculation, although possibly true, is not interesting because it is not based on any evidence, however flawed and slight. This book also proceeds to such a fantastic conclusion, but with evidence that is neither obviously flawed nor slight. The problem that it finally addresses is that there is no place in the brain which is connected to all others and which becomes significantly active during consciousness. Such a place would have a huge amount of computing to do to account for our feeling of awareness and would therefore be easily located. The fantastic conclusion is that there is another kind of activity going on involving probably the white matter in the brain and the cell walls. This activity is at the sub-atomic level and, because of the fact that such activities (as shown by the first 95%) can act over large distances instantaneously, it has the potential of integrating all brain cells. The subconscious brain, i.e. the primitive part constructed of neurons using chemistry and electricity, does the work. It integrates the signals from our sensors and coordinates our movements. It wants food and revenge and fears predators. It spells words and remembers faces. But it has evolved in this environment of atomic forces and uses these for integration, just as the flower uses the bee for pollination. We perceive this as consciousness. This is required so we can plan, chose undesirable short-term actions for long-term gain, avoid the truck while riding the bike, etc. The book then seems to end without a last chapter. I supply a possible summary of one here. You can turn the gas off, and the flame will die. But when you turn it on again, the flame comes back to life. When the real brain feels the need for consciousness to resolve some fear, it can turn it on while suppressing input/output and benefit from having the dream engage in scenario evaluations. When it feels the need for more tangible results, all systems are go and we wake up. But to the consciousness this is not much different from the dream. Finally, all this takes energy and it becomes necessary to shut down to refuel and repair. You can't dream all the time. Where does the consciousness go when it is off? The same place the flame goes. Out. Where does the flame go when the stove is gone? Permanently out. (And it doesn't care.)
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